President Xi Jinping overhauled China’s bureaucracy as part of a sweeping push to make the economy more self-sufficient and resilient in the face of US efforts to prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced technology.
(Bloomberg) — President Xi Jinping overhauled China’s bureaucracy as part of a sweeping push to make the economy more self-sufficient and resilient in the face of US efforts to prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced technology.
China’s broad changes to the financial regulatory system will see the central bank lose some of its functions to a new and enlarged oversight body, leaving it focused on broader economic and financial stability management. It’s a similar regulatory model used in Australia. The nation’s financial watchdogs are also facing massive pay cuts.
Xi has also stopped playing nice, calling on the private sector to help overcome “comprehensive containment and suppression by Western countries led by the US” — unusually direct criticism of his largest trading partner.
What to Know:
- Click to view full text of government reorganization plan in Chinese
- Click here to read more on this year’s NPC, which ends on March 13
- What to watch out for this year (video)
- A QuickTake explainer on the NPC
- Insights on incoming officials, NPC delegates
Key Upcoming Events:
Key NPC/CPPCC events that have been announced so far include:
- March 10: The country’s president and vice president will be decided. Xi is expected to get a norm-busting third term as China’s president
- March 11-12: Delegates will decide on the country’s next premier and ministers, including central bank governor. Li Qiang is expected to replace Li Keqiang as the new premier when the decision is announced on March 11. Vice premiers and state councilors will be appointed on March 12 along with ministers and the PBOC governor
- March 13 — NPC closing session. New premier’s press conference likely to follow
Latest developments: (Time-stamps are local time in Beijing):
What China’s Powerful Financial Regulator Means for PBOC (3:40 p.m.)
China’s sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system will see the central bank lose some of its functions to a new and enlarged oversight body, leaving it focused on broader economic and financial stability management.
The banking and insurance watchdog will be absorbed into a new bureau — a national financial regulatory administration — to oversee all financial sectors except the securities industry, according to a plan released at the National People’s Congress on Tuesday. Under the revamp, the People’s Bank of China will no longer have oversight of financial holding companies and financial consumer protection.
China’s Financial Regulators Face Deep Pay Cuts After Revamp (3:20 p.m.)
China’s financial watchdogs are facing massive pay cuts as Beijing overhauls the regulatory regime to further tighten the reins on the $60 trillion industry and comply with President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive.
Under the shake-up announced on Tuesday, China will set up a new national regulator to oversee all financial sectors except the securities industry. Staff at regulators including the central bank, the foreign exchange regulator, the new authority and the securities watchdog will be paid on par with the nation’s public servants.
Xi’s Frustration at Biden Grows With Warning of Conflict (6 a.m.)
Back in November, before the latest downward spiral in US-China ties, Xi Jinping cast himself as a statesman in a meeting with Joe Biden. This week, as top Chinese officials gathered for the National People’s Congress, Xi stopped playing nice. On Monday, he called on the private sector to help overcome “comprehensive containment and suppression by Western countries led by the US” — unusually direct criticism of his largest trading partner.
China Unveils New PLA Joint Staff Chief in Military Succession (3:27 a.m.)
China’s military on Tuesday unveiled a general as the new effective counterpart of Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A March 7 report in the PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military, said that General Liu Zhenli attended a group discussion as chief of the People Liberation Army’s Joint Staff Department. An official announcement of the personnel decision has yet to emerge. The session came during this week’s annual gathering of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
China Warns US Risks Catastrophe in Push to Contain Beijing (1:27 a.m.)
China’s new foreign minister warned that soaring US-China tensions risk blowing past any guardrails in the relationship, showing that divisions between the world’s biggest economies are becoming more entrenched. Qin Gang, who was previously ambassador to the US, blamed Washington for a wide range of problems in geopolitics and the global economy.
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